With this Ring: Hardin – Goodwin

Mallory Lindsly

A Bryan Photo

Elizabeth Kelleher Hardin and Brett Jared Goodwin met during orientation for Tulane Business School. By chance, the two sat next to each other for lunch on the first day and hit it off. A few weeks later they went on a date and have been inseparable ever since.

Brett proposed in September 2010. He was a few months into his first year of residency at Duke Hospital and had a week of vacation scheduled for later that month. Liz thought it would be fun to travel to Charleston, S.C., together. Brett was planning a surprise proposal trip, and he had to find a way to keep the trip a surprise.

With the help of his chief resident, Brett convinced Liz that they would have to stay nearby Durham, N.C., because he was on call for the week in case another resident got sick or had a family emergency. Brett was able to also convince her to pack by telling her that he had rented a cabin on a lake an hour away. On their way to the “cabin” he surprised her with plane tickets and told her that he had planned for them to spend the week at his family’s beach house on Captiva Island, Fla.

When they arrived at the beach house the couple unpacked excitedly but somehow managed to lock themselves out of the house. Undeterred, Brett found a way to pick the lock and proposed once they were safely inside the house. Liz and Brett spent the week celebrating their engagement and relaxing on the beach.